Jason Byrne – People’s Puppeteer (Phil McIntyre Entertainments)

Jason Byrne seems like a really nice guy, the guy that makes you laugh in the pub; not the guy you pay to watch in a 1200 capacity venue. Opening with an analysis of ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’, Byrne ambled his way through most of his hour-long show, drawing on the predictable themes of sex, women vs. men, and ageing. It was full of easy laughs, with minimal intelligence or new thought behind the material. Towards the end, Byrne began to show some spark, but unfortunately it wasn’t enough to redeem the previous uninspired forty-five minutes. Not bad, but not particularly good: Byrne definitely has talent, but it seems that he can’t be bothered to use it.